Rolling-mill stand with exchangeable rolls



E. BRETSCHNEIDER LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LS Filed July 17,1962 IN VE N TOP fi m/f a e/duh,

1966 E. BRETSCHNEIDER I 3,

ROLLING-MILL STAND WITH EXCHANGEABLE ROLLS Filed July 17, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2

INVE N TOR 5 7 A :3 mike/ Z aid 01/ United States Patent 3,234,769ROLLING-MILL STAND WITH EXCHANGEABLE ROLLS Erich Bretschneider,Dusseldorf, Germany, assignor to Friedrich Kooks, Dusseldorf, Germany, aGerman firm Filed .luly 17, 1962, Ser. No. 210,469 5 Claims. (Cl.72-238) My invention relates to a rolling-mill stand with exchangeablyjournalled rolls.

In rolling-mill plants the stands or frame structures on which the rollsare mounted must be so designed that worn rolls can be removed withrelative ease in order to be substituted by new rolls. Many proposals inthis regard have been made. Nevertheless, the exchange of rolls, as arule, still requires considerable effort and time. Often an entirecontinuous tandem plant must be shut down many hours or a full day forroll exchange.

It is an object of my invention to provide a roll stand for rollingmills which affords exchanging the roll with considerably less effortand within much shorter time than heretofore necessary.

Another object of my invention is to devise a roll stand of the typementioned in which the insertion of the rolls is likewise facilitated soas to require relatively little effort and little time.

A further object of my invention is to provide a roll stand of the typedescribed in which the removal and insertion of the rolls requiresrelatively little skill.

Still another object of my invention is to produce a roll stand forrolling mills in which those parts that must be taken out of the standfor exchanging the rolls have relatively small weight, whereas theheavier parts remain situated in the stand.

It is also an object of the invention to devise a roll stand for rollingmills in which those parts that have been taken out of the stand forexchanging the rolls, can easily and without appreciable elfort bere-inserted after a new roll has been placed into the stand.

To achieve these and more specific objects as will appear from thefollowing, and in accordance with my invention, I provide a stand for atleast two rolls with two journal or neck pins for each roll, the pinsbeing coaxially aligned for engagement with the roll at axially oppositesides thereof. At least one of the two neck pins is axially displaceablein the roll stand a distance suflicient for disengaging the neck pinsfrom the roll. I further provide for each roll a tensioning boltextending axially through the roll and coaxially joining the two neckpins with the roll by clamping and stressing them together.

The foregoing and further objects, advantages and features of myinvention, said features being set forth with particularity in theclaims annexed hereto, will be ap- .parent from, and will be mentionedin, the following description of the roll stand embodying the inventionby way of example and illustrated on the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the roll stand, partly in section along theline II in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 2 is a section along the line II-II in FIG. 1.

The illustrated embodiment constitutes a two-high roll stand whose tworolls jointly define a circular cross-section of the material to berolled. Such rolling mills are used, for example, in the production oftubing from sheetmetal strip material, the resulting longitudinal slitto be subsequently sealed by welding. However, the invention is alsoapplicable for rolling-mill stands and rolls of other types and designsas used for various other milling purposes.

The frame structure of the illustrated roll stand generally denoted byis composed of a base 11 and two vertical standards 12 and 13.Journalled. between the two standards are two rolls 14 and 15 locatedvertically one above the other and having their periphery profiled toform a circular opening at 16. The structure 10 with the bearingcomponents mounted thereon and described below, constitutes the stand inwhich the rolls 14 and 15 are so mounted that they reliably withstandall stresses occurring during rolling operations, but from which theycan readily be removed and substituted by new rolls when excessivelyworn.

in the illustrated embodiment the means for journalling and exchangingthe upper roll 14 have the same design and arrangement as those for thelower roll 15. It is therefore suflicient to describe these means onlyin conjunction with the upper roll 14. Some of the parts in the lowerhalves of FIGS. 1 and 2 that coincide with .parts in the upper halvesare denoted by the same respective reference characters except that thesuffix a has been added.

The standard 12 which appears at the left in FIG. 2 has a bore 17 oflarge diameter coaxially opposite a similar bore 18 in the rightstandard 13 of the frame structure. The bore 17 accommodates a bushing19 that constitutes the outer ring and race of a roller bearing whoserollers are denoted by 20. The bushing 19 is axially displaceable inbore 17, but is not rotatable. For this purpose it sutfices, forexample, if the fit of the bushing in the bore is made snug so that theresulting friction prevents rotation of ring 19 in bore 17. The rollerbearing 20 serves for journalling a neck pin 21 which forms the innerring or inner race of the roller bearing. A threaded ring 22 is screwedinto the bushing 19, and another threaded ring 23 is screwed onto thepin 21 for preventing the bearing rollers 20 from dropping out, while onthe other hand permitting the rollers to be inserted into the bearingwhen assembling the roll with the stand.

The neck pin 21 constitutes a carrier for the roll 14. For this purposethe pin 21 is provided with a flange 24 with a peripheral ring portion25 protruding axially toward the roll 14 and engaging a peripheralshoulder 26 formed at the left end face of the roller 14.

A bore 18 in the right standard 13 of the frame structure is engaged bya bushing 28 which to some extent is similar to the above-describedbushing 19. However, while bushing 19 can be axially displaced in bore17 against slight frictional resistance, the bushing 28 is neitherdisplaceable nor rotatable in bore 18. For this purpose the bushing28,on the one hand, has a flange 29 abutting against the standard 13 and,on the other hand, is provided with a threaded ring 29' screwed onto thebushing 28. Similar to bushing 19, bushing 28 also forms the outer ringor outer race of a roller bearing whose rollers 30 serve for journallinga neck pin 31.. This pin con stitutes the second carrier for rotatablysupporting the roll 14. For this purpose the pin 31 is provided with aflange 32 whose axially protruding rim 33 engages a pe ripheral shoulder34 of roll 14. The pin 31 also serves to transmit driving torque to theroll 14. To this end, a prismatic key rod 35, extending radially to theaxis of roll 14, engages a groove 36 of roll 14 as well as a paral lelmating groove 37 of flange 32. The neck pin 31 has a cylindricalextension 38 upon which a sleeve 40 with a flange 39 is seated. A key 41of the type generally employed in machine constructions, joins the parts38 and 40 with each other. The bearing rollers 30 are inserted beforethe sleeve 40 is shoved upon the cylindrical extension 38 of neck pin31. Thereafter a threaded ring 42 is screwed into bushing 28 forsecuring and protecting the bearing rollers 30. A flange 39 of sleeve 40serves for connecting the neck pin 31 with a drive shaft (notillustrated).

For accurately and reliably mounting the roller 14 in the bearings 20and 30, the two neck pins 21 and 31 are axially tensioned firmly againsta roll 14. This is done by means of a bolt 43 and a sleeve 44. The leftend of bolt 43 is squared at 45 to form a head for engagement by awrench. The right end of bolt 43 has a screw thread 46 by means of whichthe bolt can be screwed into a threaded bore 47 of the neck pin 31. Thesleeve 44 has an external thread 48 by means of which the sleeve isscrewed into an axial bore 49 of the neck pin 21. The tensioning bolt 43passes through the sleeve 44 and through an axial bore 50 of roll 14. Aradially protruding shoulder portion 51 of bolt 43 is located betweenthe right end face 52 of sleeve 44 and a shoulder 53 in the bore 49 ofneck pin 21.

In normal rolling-mill operations the bolt 43 is tightened so that itsshoulder portion 51 forces the flange 24 of neck pin 21 against thefront face 27 of roll 14 and simultaneously the flange 32 of neck pin 31against the face 54 of roller 14. Consequently, the parts 21, 14, 31normally constitute a single rigid entity which is rotatable in bearings20, 30 but is axially not displaceable.

When the roll 14 is worn to such an extent that it is to be substitutedby a new roll fundamentally of the same type and shape, the bolt 43 isloosened by turning it at the square head 45 and thereby screwing itsthreaded end 46 out of the threaded bore 47 in neck pin 31.Simultaneously, the shoulder portion 51 of bolt 33 presses against theend face 52 of sleeve 44, thus shifting the neck pin 21 to the left. Theaxial length a of the threaded end 46 is longer than the sum of the twolengths denoted by b and c in FIG. 2. Consequently, when the bolt 43 iscompletely screwed out of neck pin 31, the spacing between the flanges24 and 32 is larger than the distance between the end faces 27 and 54 ofroll 14. Before this condition is reached, however, a rope is placedabout the roll 14 and seized by a crane, so that the roll cannot dropdown at the moment when it becomes released from flanges 24 and 32.

Now, while the crane keeps the roll 14 suspended, the sleeve 44 isscrewed out of the neck pin 21. For this purpose the sleeve is providedwith square teeth 55 engageable by a wrench or the like tool. Afterremoving the sleeve 44, the bolt 43 can be fully pulled out of the neckpin 21 so that the bolt no longer enters into the bore of roll 14. Theroll 14 can now be lifted by the crane and transported away. Thereafterthe same removing operation can be performed with the lower roll 15,which previously can be loosened partially by some of the operationsdescribed above. After removal of roll 15 the stand is ready to receivenew rolls.

When a new roll is to be inserted, the flanges 24 and 32 are still inthe position occupied when the worn roll was being removed. Therefore,the new roll suspended by a rope from a crane, can readily be loweredbetween the flanges 24 and 32. Thereafter the bolt 43 is again inserted.This requires neither effor nor careful fitting because all borestraversed by the bolt 43 are considerably wider than the correspondingdiameters of the bolt. The bolt is then screwed into the threaded bore47 and forcefully tightened by means of a wrench placed upon the bolthead 45, so that the new roll 14 is firmly tensioned axially betweenflanges 24 and 32. It only remains necessary to screw the sleeve 44 intoplace. Already during this last operation, the roll 14 may be loosenedfrom the crane and the crane may travel away and the rope be removedfrom the roll.

It will be recognized that by virtue of the invention there is provideda rolling-mill stand which affords exchanging the rolls in aparticularly simple and convenient manner with a minimum of effort andtime.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that with respect tostructural details, my invention permits of a variety of modifications,and that the invention can be applied to roller stands of various typesand designs, or to stands wtih more than two rolls, and hence can begiven embodiments other than particularly illustrated and describedherein, without departing from the essential features of my inventionand within the scope of the claims annexed hereto.

I claim:

1. A rolling-mill stand with at least two rolls, comprising a framestructure having two coaxially aligned neck pins for journalling each ofsaid rolls, said two neck pins being rotatable in said structure,cooperating means on axially opposite sides of said roll and on said twoneck pins, said cooperating means being radially spaced from the commonaxis of said two neck pins and engageable for centering and solelysupporting said roll between said two neck pins, at least one of saidtwo neck pins being axially displaceable relative to said structure adistance sufficient for disengaging said roll from said pins so thatsaid roll can be removed and replaced, and a removable tensioning boltextending axially through said roll and releasably interconnecting saidtwo neck pins for axially joining and tensioning said pins and saidroll.

2. A rolling-mill stand according to claim 1, wherein said cooperatingmeans comprises frictionally engageable abutment members at radiallyopposed locations of said roll and of said two neck pins, saidcooperating means being engageable for coaxially aligning said roll withsaid two neck pins.

3. A rolling-mill stand according to claim 1 wherein said cooperatingmeans comprises an annular flange formed on each of said two neck pinsand an annular shoulder formed on each of said axially opposite sides ofsaid roll.

4. A rolling-mill stand with at least two rolls, comprising a framestructure having two coaxially aligned neck pins for journalling each ofsaid rolls, said two neck pins being rotatable in said structure andhaving an end face respectively opposite one another, said roll beingreceivable between said end faces and having axially opposite faces eachrespectively opposing one of said end faces, a radially spaced annularflange formed on one face of each of said opposing pairs of faces and aradially spaced annular shoulder formed on the other face of saidopposing pair of faces, said annular flange and said annular shoulderbeing engageable for centering and solely supporting said roll betweensaid two neck pins and for transmitting between said roll and said twoneck pins forces tangential to the common axis of said two neck pins, atleast one of said two neck pins being axially displaceable relative tosaid structure a distance for disengaging said roll from said pins sothat said roll can be removed and replaced, and a removable tensioningbolt extending axially through said roll and releasably interconnectingsaid two neck pins for axially joining and tensioning said pins and saidroll.

5. A rolling-mill stand according to claim 4 including torquetransmitting means comprising a key member receivable in opposedtransversely extending slots in at least one of said axially oppositesides of said roll and in at least said one of said two neck pins.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,543,540 6/1925Anderson 29-125 2,049,842 8/1936 Kling 31.1 2,195,502 4/1940 Smitmans803l.1 2,646,103 7/1953 Kiss 8058 2,941,465 6/1960 Zimmerli -1553,050,101 8/ 1962 Nitkiewicz.

FOREIGN PATENTS 398,479 9/1933 Great Britain.

WHITMORE A. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

1. A ROLLING-MILL STAND WITH AT LEAST TWO ROLLS, COMPRISING A FRAMESTRUCTURE HAVING TWO COAXIALLY ALIIGNED NECK PINS FOR JOURNALLING EACHOF SAID ROLLS, SAID TWO NECK PINS BEING ROTATABLE IN SAID STRUCTURE,COOPERATING MEANS ON AXIALLY OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID ROLL AND ON SAID TWONECK PINS, SAID COOPERATING MEANS BEING RADIALLY SPACED FROM THE COMMONAXIS OF SAID TWO NECK PINS AND ENGAGEABLE FOR CENTERING AND SOLELYSUPPORTING SAID ROLL BETWEEN SAID TWO NECK PINS, AT LEAST ONE OF SAIDTWO NECK PINS BEING AXIALLY DISPLACEABLE RELATIVE TO SAID STRUCTURE ADISTANCE SUFFICIENT FOR DISENGAGING SAID ROLL FROM SAID PINS SO THATSAID ROLL CAN BE REMOVED AND REPLACED, AND A REMOVABLE TENSIONING BOLTEXTENDING AXIALLY THROUGH SAID ROLL AND RELEASABLY INTERCONNECTING SAIDTWO NECK PINS FOR AXIALLY JOINING AND TENSIONING SAID PINS AND SAIDROLL.